Wingless
by Epic F. Awesomesauce
Summary: Some Spamano Pottertalia! Yay! {inserts you celebrating here} Please read if you want! It's basically about Lovino and Antonio falling in love, which is pretty much everything I write, but I swear this one will be a bit different! Sort of! Ish! Has some Nyotalia, including all members of the Axis Powers, and some innuendos... heh, sorry. :/
1. Chapter 1

**Okays, so this takes place around when James, Lily and Albus were going to school, I think. Most of this shit is not canon except for in my twisted mind, so yeah! Have fun reading! ^^**

* * *

**Haters Gonna Hate**

* * *

_"And I, I took the road less traveled by,_

_and that has made all the difference."_

_Robert Frost_

* * *

Antonio Carriedo and Lovino Vargas were the talk of the school. They couldn't seem to keep their hands off of each other, and not in a good way. Well, perhaps Antonio meant it in a good way, but he couldn't actually be _bad_ or _mean_ so that didn't really count.

It seemed that every two seconds or so they had to have another dramatic battle in the corridors, or maybe Lovino would accidentally spill some potion on him in Potions, or perhaps one of Lovino's spells in DADA went awry and suddenly Antonio had three extra noses, all in uncomfortable, private areas. Actually, looking back on it, it's mostly Lovino who does mean shit and Antonio just sort of soldiers through it all with a smile on his face. Always. A never ending smile. Of doom. And destruction.

Was it that that pissed Lovino off? Or was it possible the fact that whenever Antonio saw him he smiled and waved and shouted a happy "Lovi~!" as if they were lifelong friends or, at the very least, people who _liked_ each other. Shiver. Lovino couldn't imagine liking _anyone,_ _especially_ not the stupidest, most airheaded and nice student in all of Hogwarts.

Was that what Antonio liked about him? The thing that made him follow Lovino around constantly enough to get him attacked on several occasions? Or was it the secret smiles or the occasional sad look or the fact that he got so protective of his younger sister? Or maybe it was the way that Lovino never called Antonio by his name. _Bastard, asshole, mudblood, idiot, stupid head, fuckwit_- these were all names Antonio heard constantly from Lovino, but never had the feisty Italian actually said his name.

Well, whatever it was that caused Lovino to hate Antonio and Antonio to like Lovino, it didn't matter to them at the start of their sixth (for Lovino) and seventh (for Antonio) years of school.

Lovino was sitting in a deliciously empty train compartment, minding his own business and listening to music on a muggle iPod (he was muggle-born- oh the irony, considering every second word out of his mouth when talking to people was mudblood) when suddenly the compartment door was slammed open with the force of a giraffe whipping it's neck to fight off other giraffe's- which is actually quite a lot. Also, you should look up a video of that because it's hilarious.

Lovino glanced upward in shock, then slowly shrank back into his little corner as a couple members of the Inquisitorial Squad walked in. Though the first and true Squad had been disbanded once- ugh -Umbridge had been kicked out of Headmistress position, a new one had been started by some extremely narrow-minded students (of all four Houses- don't be housist) and they now decided that yes, actually, it was _completely_ their business to fuck up people who didn't fit into their parameters of what people should be.

Lovino was on their list.

Actually, Lovino pretty much _was_ their list, for a couple of reasons. For one, he didn't have a large group of friends like most people who would make their list did. The people who traveled in packs were out. For two, Lovino, well, he was the only _good_ target of all the loners of the school, because nobody liked him. Well, _Antonio_ did but honestly, that didn't count. Antonio liked _everyone_. Antonio even liked their arrogant, narcissistic Charms teacher. No, for serious, he actually did. Antonio literally liked everyone. He'd probably like fucking_ Voldemort_ if he'd had the chance to meet him! Hell, maybe even_ Umbridge_- well, actually, no, even Antonio would be able to sense the pure evil that surrounded that woman. Thank god she was serving time in Azkaban for being a complete asshole. Or something like that.

Oh, and another thing that made Lovino a great target (yeah I know, you completely forgot that we were talking about that, didn't you) was the fact that as soon as you made a threat to his younger sister (thirteen-year-old Felicia, the sweetest, cutest girl you'd ever hope to see) he instantly let you do whatever you wanted to him as long as you promised not to go near her.

Aah, yes. Fucking up Lovino was one of the best, easiest pastimes in the whole school.

Three boys walked into Lovino's empty compartment. One had white-blonde hair that was constantly in his eyes. One had mousy brown curls that were trimmed short and were very bouncy. He had deep, hooded eyes. The third, last, and most ruthless of the three was a boy named Frost Animus. He had buzzed black hair and deep, soulless black eyes that made you feel as if you were sinking into an endless pit of tar. They made you feel like you were drowning.

All three boys stepped in looking mostly immaculate. All three boys stepped out with flushed cheeks and a strange light in their eyes, except for Frost, because his eyes swallowed light and _certainly_ never produced it. That would be stupid.

The inside of the compartment after the three boys had left was a complete and total mess. The contents of Lovino's trunk had been thrown everywhere and most of the garments had been ripped to shreds. Any food had been smashed. Any glass or breakable items had been broken. Even the seats and floor looked permanently damaged, as well as the ceiling and walls. The luggage racks were nowhere to be seen.

Lovino himself was lying in the fetal position on the floor. His nose was broken, probably, and so his face was covered in blood. His clothes were ripped and covered in food. Remember when I said it had all been smashed? Yeah, it was smashed onto Lovino. His body was covered in small cuts and slashes, mainly from the glass and breakable items I mentioned previously. Lovino's school uniform was nowhere to be seen, and his shoes- all six pairs -had been thrown out the window long ago.

Also, Lovino was crying.

And that's how he was, in the fetal position, covered in ripped clothes, his own blood and snot, and millions of pieces of broken glass, when the sweets lady found him.

She called any available teachers to come to the apartment immediately, but still, the first person there was Antonio, which was a rather admirable feat, considering he had been on the opposite end of the train.

"Oh, there you are!" The sweets lady cried as she heard Antonio's running footsteps. "I've been waiting for- Antonio? What are you doing here?"

"Is he okay?" seventeen-year-old Antonio cried, bright green eyes looking frantic and worried for once instead of happy and carefree. "What happened? Who did it?"

"I have no idea," the sweets lady said, wringing her hands and glancing inside the totaled compartment. "I just found him like this. ...It's awful, though." Antonio's eyes widened as she said the word awful and, before the poor sweets lady knew what was happening Antonio was gently moving her aside and peeking in at Lovino.

"Oh." was all the poor boy could manage as he took in the wreckage before him. Everything- everything! -inside the compartment had been completely broken, including its sole occupant, who lay snuffling on the floor, heaving every once in a while with sobs.

Antonio took a careful step into the compartment, wincing at the pieces of broken glass that cracked beneath his feet (he'd always had a dislike of the noise, you see). "Lovino... are you okay?" he asked softly.

"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you." the sweets lady warned. "I tried walking in there before I called for help and he didn't like it much."

Antonio, for the first time in his life, ignored her. "Lovino... it's me, Antonio. You know, the one who's always smiling at you? The annoying one? Yep, that's me!" No response. Just some more sniffling. "Well, Lovino, I'd like to help you. Is that okay?" Antonio took another hesitant step forward.

"Be carefu-" the sweets lady started.

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Lovino, sitting up and slashing his wand before him. Instantly Antonio was thrown with brutal force through the doorway of the compartment and through the _actual door_ of the compartment across from it. "ALL OF YOU! JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!" With another few flicks of his wand Lovino had completely sealed himself into the compartment by magic.

Antonio clambered off of the poor fifth year girl he had squashed in his sudden and brief introduction to flight and staggered out of his newly acquainted compartment, back to the hallway outside Lovino's. He stared at the doors, though they were rather blurred and distorted by the ephemeral casing that seemed to be surrounding them. He stood there for a moment, replaying the events that had just commenced in his mind nearly a thousand times.

It was on his thousand and first time through that he realized that... he was in love.

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

All through the train ride to Hogwarts Lovino stayed in his compartment, and Antonio stayed right outside of it. Every once in a while one of his extremely close friends- Gilbert, the albino German half blood, and Francis, the blond, blue-eyed French sex idol of the school -would come and check on him, just to make sure Lovino hadn't done away with him, but other than that he just sat against the wall next to the force-field thing and though, or something as close to that as his mind could get to. He had never tried thinking before, being too busy being happy and liking everyone, and so he wasn't sure if he was doing it right, or if he would throw up after thinking too long.

Felicia, Lovino's sister, and Louise and Sakura, Felicia's ever-present appendages- I mean, friends -came to check in every once in a while too, but it was less for Antonio's sake and more for Lovino's, although Feli (as most everybody in existence, ever, referred to her) did talk with Antonio a bit, and Louise and Sakura both gave the Spaniard hotty polite nods and perfunctual greetings, since they were polite little motherfuckers.

But other than that Antonio had no human contact and, for once, that didn't bother him in the slightest. He was too busy exploring this feeling of love that had been building up in his chest since... well... since a point in time, probably. It felt... warm, and light, and pink and bubbly, like the background of a bathing scene in an anime, all cotton-candy-colored and cute and sweet and innocent and lovable and- _big boobs, nice legs, yes, yummy, let me in the tub with you_ -okay, it definitely didn't feel like that, but really, that's how every anime bathing scene goes. It actually gets quite annoying after a time, I think.

But anywhore, back to the subject of love.

Something about the feeling made Antonio want to grab everybody in a deep bear-group hug and never, ever let them go, even though he was fairly certain he wasn't in love with _them_- well, maybe a little, but people like Antonio always are.

No, Antonio wasn't in love with everybody. As far as he could tell, he was in love with... wait, _what? Really_ now? You chose _that_ jackass to fall for? Wow. You have terrible taste, Antonio. What's wrong with you?

Yes. All your suspicions are right.

Antonio had, indeed, fallen in love with Frost Animus.

...

...

JUST KIDDING!

Haha, made ya look!

Wait... DID you look?

Meh, it doesn't matter anyways.

So, FOR REALS now: Antonio had, indeed, fallen in love with Lovino.

He didn't know when it had happened, and he couldn't pinpoint why, and he couldn't exactly figure out what he would _do_ now that he was suddenly in love with Lovino, but he knew, for certain, that even though bear-group hugging everybody would be extremely enjoyable, he'd give up his right to ever bear-group hug again if it meant that he could hold Lovino's hand, even just once for two seconds. In fact, the warm bliss that filled him up, starting from his feet and ending at his dick- I mean, head (like the head on top of the neck, not the other one) -at the thought of that made him want to forfeit his rights to group-bear hugs anyways just so that he could pay Lovino something for thinking things about him that he knew his Italian crush would rather kill him for then allow him to do.

He was completely and totally in head-over-heels love.

It should it be heels-over-head love? Because honestly your head is over your heels most of the time. Or is the saying trying to say that people in love actually look the exact same way as normal people...? Hmm... nah, probably not.

Where were we?

Oh right, Antonio was heels-over-head in love.

With a little asshole who had used magic to try and remove him- permanently -from his sight.

...

Aaaaaaaawkward!

* * *

**A/N SO! I've been meaning to write a Pottertalia fic for a while now, and OBVIOUSLY 4:25 in the morning is definitely the time for it! Thank God it's Friday! Or should I say Saturday? Or should I say screw it all? Heh heh...**

**Anyways... reveiws are welcome, as are the other stuff, blah blah blah, but I'd appreciate it more if you'd just read this, because I feel like it might be epic and also, I feel like my outright abusal of third person point of view might be considered rather humorous in the eyes of some, including- but not limited to! -myself.**

**And there went all my fancy talking for today. I'm back to being my normal says-fuck-every-other-word person now! Don't fucking worry, fucking darlings! XD**


	2. Chapter 2

**Leave Me Alone**

* * *

_"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not."_

_André Gide_

* * *

By the time the train finally reached Hogwarts, Lovino was pretty much certain that he was cursed, and not in the wave-your-wand-and-say-some-words way that most people were, but the you-are-doomed-to-forever-be-bullied way. Oh, and also, his stupid sister and her stupid friends kept checking up on him, and that made him frustrated, because he didn't need checking up on! He'd already healed his nose (mostly, but he still looked pretty beat up) and fixed most of the things that could be fixed (he still didn't have his uniform or his shoes, and that made him want to kill something) and he was perfectly fine, except for the fact that that stupid fucking bastard Antonio wouldn't fucking leave him alone!

...That was not to say he was really annoying Lovino in any way...

But... he had come to Lovino's compartment as soon as the sweets lady had alerted all the teachers. Why had he done that? He was always annoying Lovino at school. Wasn't that enough?

Lovino sighed and looked out the window. The sky had been slowly darkening for around half an hour now, and he could barely see through the window. It didn't help that it had started raining less than ten minutes before and was already coming down hard enough for Lovino to dread the walk towards the horseless carriages that would carry them to Hogwarts.

The train slowly came to a stop in Hogwarts station and Lovi got up, grabbing his suitcase, which had been resting on the bench in front of him for the majority of the trip, and then slid open the compartment door.

"I-I wasn't sitting here!" cried Antonio, jumping to his feet. "At all! And certainly not since you put up that force-field thingy! How did you do that, by the way? It was super cool!"

Lovino just stared and stared and stared at his fellow student. Had he seriously been sitting there this entire time? First he had run all the way through the train to reach Lovino first before anyone else, and then he had come inside and been thrown and, AND THEN, to top it all off, he had sat outside Lovino's train compartment for hours just to make sure he was okay?

Lovino slammed the compartment door shut and turned to fall face-first down on one of the bench-seats. He was so fucking done with Antonio and his fucking weird obsession with him! He wanted nothing more to do with it! Nothing! At all!

...Although Antonio had said that his spell was cool.

...And that level of dedication... it... it made Lovino at least want to get on speaking terms with him... because... well, no one else seemed to want to be around him, and if Antonio was willing to sit in the hallway of the Hogwarts Express just to wait for him... well... maybe the guy wasn't so bad after all...?

Nah, that was complete bullshit. Antonio was just too stupid to move. He probably forgot how to walk, actually. Probably Lovino needed to go back outside and make sure he remembered. Yeah, that would be the, um... respectful thing to do. Or something like that. Fuck you.

Lovino slowly, carefully opened the compartment door to find Antonio dozing- fucking dozing! -just outside of it. Lovino opened the door all the way, grabbed his trunk, then walked outside. He stopped in front of the Spaniard and gently nudged him with a foot.

"Oi, bastard," he said grumpily. "Get the fuck up, it's time to go." Antonio didn't respond, and that made Lovino more pissed off then usual. He bent down and was about to grab the boy by his hair and yell in his ear when the train whistle was blown, signaling that it was leaving from Hogsmeade.

"Shit!" Lovino yelled. He turned and was about to get off the train when he remembered- fuck -Antonio wouldn't fucking wake up! Lovino turned back with a slight growl and grabbed the Spaniard by his hand, jerking him suddenly to his feet. To his credit, Antonio didn't scream or anything, like Lovino secretly knew that he would have. No, he didn't scream, but he did fall right over and would have landed flat on his face if Lovino hadn't been having none of that.

In the end they made it off of the train on time. Lovino flipped shit when he realized that he had his trunk- full of a bunch of ripped up shit -but not Antonio's. Antonio finally managed to grab the worked-up Italian by the shoulders and tell him that his friends had gotten it off of the train when they left. Lovino punched him in the stomach and yelled at him for a solid two minutes before grabbing him by the hand and dragging him over to the last carriage going back to the castle. Fortunately for Antonio there were two fifth year girls in the carriage with them, which stopped Lovino from murdering/chewing Antonio out in the carriage.

When the carriage finally reached Hogwarts, the girls left as quickly as they could (probably because Lovino kept shooting Antonio murderous looks when he thought the two girls weren't looking) leaving Antonio and Lovino to walk from where the carriage stopped (almost in front of the castle but far enough away for them both to get soaked) up to Hogwarts castle, dragging Lovino's trunk. Once they had finally reached the castle, Antonio expected Lovino to drift off to his table (Slytherin) while Antonio went to his table (Gryffindor) but, surprisingly, after abandoning his trunk in the hall, where somebody would take it up to his dorm, Lovino stuck right by Antonio's side, shooting wary glances at everyone in the room, especially the Slytherins, where most of the Inquisitorial Squad were located. He stayed right next to Antonio as the Spaniard walked through the Great Hall, and he stayed right next to Antonio at the Gryffindor table, which was almost unheard of. There was some sort of unspoken rule amongst all the people of the school that pretty much stated that people didn't ever sit at a house table that wasn't their own, but since it wasn't an actual rule and says Lovino was the one breaking it, everyone let it be, although the Gryffindor's didn't really acknowledge that Lovino was there. That was okay, though. Lovino didn't want them to acknowledge him; he just wanted the Inquisitorial Squad to leave him alone.

After all the first-years had been sorted into their houses and everyone had eaten both dinner and dessert- or just desert, as some (cough cough Gilbert cough cough) were wont to do, the Headmaster stood up, said a few words ("I hope you all have a wonderful school year and learn lots of new things!") and then everyone traipsed out of the Great Hall and into the Entrance Hall, then to the moving staircases. As Lovino passed by the Inquisitorial Squad its members hissed at him while the rest of the Slytherins shot the Inquisitorial Squad scornful glances. Someone even tried to hex one of them before there were caught by a Prefect and given detention. Slytherins may not have seemed like the friendliest people but one thing was certain: they were very protective of each other, even if it was the first muggle-born Slytherin.

Antonio and Lovino stopped in front of the moving staircases. They had to split up here, since Lovino slept in the dungeon and Antonio slept in one of the Hogwarts towers, but Antonio didn't really want to leave Lovino. His Italian crush stayed within two inches of him at all times and kept reaching out to grab his sleeve lightly between his forefinger and thumb whenever they were at risk of becoming separated from the crowd, and though Antonio found this all incredibly cute that wasn't the only reason he wanted to stay by him; he didn't want to leave the poor boy alone in the Slytherin common room with a good portion of the Inquisitorial Squad, not after what had happened to him on the train. He still had a black eye and lots of small cuts and not-so-small bruises all over his body, and Antonio felt a strange tug in his chest that was telling him to grab Lovino by the hand and hold him and never let him go. And to also walk up the Inquisitorial Squad and use some Unforgivable Curses on them for the unforgivable things they'd done to the Italian in the past.

Antonio reached out and grabbed Lovino by the hand, a determined look on his face. "I'm not going to let you go back to your common room," he said, leaning in close to Lovino so that no one else could hear. Lovino blushed bright red and began stuttering immediately, but Antonio firmly clapped a hand over his mouth and leaned in further (and if he came any closer Lovino would faint because human contact oh god) and said "I'm going to ask the Headmaster if you can sleep in my dormitory tonight, okay?"

Lovino nodded, which was pretty much all he was able to do at this point, and Antonio removed his hand from his mouth and grabbed Lovino by the wrist, gently leading him through the crowds of people and back into the Great Hall, where the Headmaster and a couple other teachers were conversing about teacher stuff.

Antonio walked right up and stopped politely in front of the Headmaster and the other teachers, as if to wait for them to stop talking. Of course, he didn't need to wait, since they had stopped talking as soon as he had walked up to them. Usually on the first day of school the students were too sleepy and full of good food to do anything other than walk straight to their common rooms and, by extension, bed.

After a strangely long, awkward pause, the Headmaster said slowly "Antonio...?"

Antonio smiled sweetly at him. "Headmaster, this is Lovino Vargas. He's the one who was beat up on the train, as you can see from his injuries."

Lovino blushed and tried to stammer something like "U-um, n-no-" but Antonio didn't give him the chance.

"I was wondering if maybe he could sleep in my dormitory tonight." Antonio went on, right over Lovino's unintelligible mumbling. "I don't want him to be harrassed by the Inquisitorial Squad."

"I'm sure he won't be harassed by anyone-" the Headmaster started, but before he could finish Antonio leaned forward into the older man's face, a serious- almost angry, in fact -look on his face.

"Headmaster, I won't allow him to be hurt anymore. I'm mostly just here to inform you of what's going to be happening."

Lovino blanched. "A-Antonio-" he began, but Antonio squeezed his hand gently, silencing him.

Antonio leaned even closer and then spoke in a quiet whisper. "I'm sure I don't need to remind you who my parents are." he said lowly. The Headmaster's eyes widened in recognition. "Suffice to say they would not enjoy an owl from me right now,"

"Oh, um, yes, that's true..." the Headmaster said. "Um, I suppose it would be okay if Lovino stayed in your dormitory with you... I mean, considering, um, your circumstances..."

Antonio smiled happily at him. "Oh, thank you, Headmaster! I'll make sure to put in a good word with my parents!"

"You do that..."

Antonio turned with one last smile and then pulled Lovino out of the Great Hall, through the Entrance Hall and up seven sets of moving staircases before they arrived at the portrait of the Fat Lady. He leaned in close to Lovino and whispered in his ear not to tell anyone the password (Lovino was distracted from even paying attention to what the password was by a strange, roiling feeling in his stomach when Antonio got too close) and then dragged Lovino inside. A couple of sixth and seventh years were gathered around the fireplace, talking, laughing, and playing games like Gobstones, Wizard's Chess, and Whack-A-Death-Eater, but they all stopped what they were doing and looked up as Antonio and Lovino entered the room. Antonio shot them all friendly smiles and explained their situation while Lovino tried as hard as he could to melt into the wall behind him, clinging to Antonio's hand as if it held the key to salvation.

Francis and Gilbert- Antonio's BFFs OMG! :D -walked up the them, greeting Antonio like brothers (Gilbert with a friendly but hard slap on the back, Francis with a kiss to both of his cheeks) and then turning their eyes to Lovino.

"So, mon amie, why do you have this cute little Italian with you tonight?" Francis asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Lovino shrunk even farther behind Antonio at Francis's words. He didn't want people to think that he and Antonio were planning on... on... on having sex. It was nothing like that. Antonio was just being overprotective because Lovino had gotten beaten up earlier, and he was just being a nice person, like always. It was nothing more than that. It would never be anything more than that. Lovino would make sure of that. He was never going to get close to someone, because what if they left him? What if they hurt him? It was better to not love.

But that didn't mean he would pass up this opportunity to get away from the stupid Inquisitorial Squad and Frost Animus, whom he shared a dorm with. He didn't understand it. Sure, he had been bullied in muggled school as well, but why was it that at Hogwarts, the best place in the world for most muggle-borns, he had to live with his bullies? It gave them so many more chances to hurt him. It wasn't a great situation. Well, it was for the bullies, but no one gives a fuck about their side of the story.

"Francis, leave Lovino alone, will you?" Antonio asked with a friendly smile. Francis actually stepped back in shock at the strangely unfriendly tone in his voice. He shared a look with Gilbert and then they both backed away.

"Well, see you later, Antonio..." Gilbert said warily. "I won't even bother you with the latest news about me and Francis and Matthew."

"Good~!" Antonio said. He turned away and dragged Lovino up the stairs to his dormitory, leaving his friends to stare at each other in confusion. What the hell had just happened?

* * *

**A/N Okay so I'm posting this now and it might be complete shit but whatever I don't care anymore I'm going to die because I need sleep. XP ANYWAYS REVIEW IF YOU WANT and whatever you do don't commit suicide because if someone else tries that I'm going to hide under my bed and never come out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Something**

* * *

_"Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times,_

_when one only remembers to turn on the light."_

_Albus Dumbledore and, by extension, J.K. Rowling_

* * *

One Monday, a month and a half after Antonio... did his thing, all the teachers adjourned to the Staff Room at the end of the day to discuss... everything.

"What are we supposed to do about Antonio Carriedo?" the Charms teacher, Professor Theodosia Layton, asked, shuffling her papers like she always did when she was thinking.

"What's wrong with him?" asked the Transfiguration teacher, cocking his head to the side as he sipped at his hot cocoa.

"Well, he's disturbing the other students." said the Astronomy teacher, Firenze the Centaur. "The stars have told me that if this keeps up the other students will stop following the rules as well."

"W-well, it's not exactly _his_ fault, is it? It's that stupid Inquisitorial Squad acting up again! I told you last meeting we should have disbanded them!" This was the Potions master, Dennis Creevey, brother to Colin Creevey. He was barely old enough to be teaching, but because he was so good at what he did the Headmaster had made an allowance.

"I agree with Dennis," said Neville Longbottom, the Herbology teacher. "The Inquisitorial Squad needs to be stopped."

"But they're not _doing_ anything-" began the Headmaster.

Neville turned to him and just stared. "They _are_ doing something. They've been beating up Lovino Vargas since forever, but no one wants to admit it just because Mr. Animus has such a high position in the Ministry. You know, Harry wouldn't just stand by and let this happen."

There was silence for a moment. Neville had earned himself quite a bit of respect ever since he had killed Nagini, Voldemort's snake, and so everyone listened to him possibly a bit more than they listened to the Headmaster. Finally, the Headmaster spoke:

"Well, Harry's not here, is he? He's an Auror in London, and he seems to trust us enough to decide what to do about the Inquisitorial Squad. I, for one, say we let them be."

Neville stood up abruptly, Dennis soon following him. "I don't agree with this at all, Headmaster," Neville said calmly. "I'm not going to let you punish Antonio for protecting his friend. Excuse us."

And with that, the two of them were gone.

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

Antonio wouldn't let Lovino out of his sight, and it was getting rather annoying. It seemed like Lovino couldn't even go to the bathroom without Antonio following him in. Also, whenever Antonio was around only Lovino and no one else the Italian got the vague feeling that Antonio was heart-wrenchingly (in Lovino's opinion everything to do with Antonio being unhappy in any way was heart-wrenching) lonely, so he had... he had started hanging out with Antonio and his friends, _and_ his sister and her friends, _all at the same time._ That meant that there was the Bad Touch Trio- Antonio, Gilbert Beilschmidt, and Francis Bonnefoy -and the Axis Powers- Sakura Honda, Louise Beilschmidt, Felicia Vargas -the boy Gilbert and Francis were currently fighting over, who's name was... well, it was something, but no one ever seemed to remember it (Francis called him various sweet terms in French and Gilbert called him "Birdie"), and the two boys currently fighting over Sakura- Heracles Karpusi and Sadiq Annan -and Lovino, who didn't have anyone to add to the group except himself, and occasionally his cat.

People around the school had started calling these people "The Peanut Gallery" for some reason no one could fathom. It was probably that dumb American jock's idea, since he was always laughing uproariously at it while flinging himself all over his boyfriend.

So, on that fateful day that set some future stuff that I haven't figured out yet into motion, the whole entire Peanut Gallery (except for Heracles and Sadiq, since they were either killing each other or having hate-sex somewhere) was crammed into one empty classroom (class was out, though, so they weren't being bad) playing Wizard's Chess: Battle of Hogwarts, which was a newer version of Wizard's Chess that had all the chess pieces as Death Eaters or Order of the Pheonix/Dumbledore's Army members. Apparently some of the older wizards still couldn't play it since it reminded them of... back then.

Technically, Francis and Gilbert were playing over Matthew's affections, but at this point it had turned into an all-out war of everyone against Lovino and Antonio, who were trying to win the prize, which was, for some reason, not Matthew's affections, but a free all-you-can-drink at the Three Broomsticks paid for by the losing team

Lovino and Antonio were currently arguing (except that it looked more like they were trying to rip each other's clothes off, which was really funny to watch) about where to move their queen.

"If we move her there then their rook will get her!" Lovino protested, slapping Antonio's hand away from the board and reaching for the queen. "We should move her _here_ and then-"

"And then their queen will get her!"

Lovino sat back and considered. "Oh, you're right."

Silence fell amongst the Peanut Gallery as they all stared at Lovino, who was far too busy examining the board to notice that everyone- _even_ Antonio for Merlin's sake -was staring at him with disbelief clearly written all over their faces.

"_Fratello_... did you just say that Antonio was right?" Felicia asked carefully, as if afraid to find out.

"Did you just _concede your rightness?_" Gilbert asked, which made no sense, really, but he was too awesome (in his opinion) to care.

Lovino looked bemusedly at them all, then turned to Antonio. "You too?" he snapped. "The fuck's gotten into you guys?"

"Lovino... you're _always_ right." said Francis slowly. "Or at least- that's what you always _say_." In the week or so that they'd been constantly hanging out they had all come to learn that Lovino _never, ever_ admitted that he was wrong, so the fact that he was doing that now... well, it was mind-blowing.

Lovino snorted. "Of course I'm not always right, dumbass. I'm just right most of the time." And with that he moved a piece- not the queen, but a bishop. He set it diagonally to the king and then grinned smugly at the other team. "Checkmate."

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

About fifteen minutes late there was a polite but firm knock at the classroom door. Everyone turned around to look as one of the teachers- the Muggle Studies teacher, Professor Alistair -walked through the door, coughing awkwardly and doing his best not to make eye contact with anyone.

"Um, Antonio Carriedo, Lovino Vargas, I would like to speak to you. _Privately_." He said the last word in a particularly solemn way that made the hairs on the back of Lovino's neck stand up. He didn't like the way this was going. He didn't like it at all...

"What do you want to talk to us about?" the Italian asked.

"Oh, just... certain things that have come up that have to do with the two of you. Just come along with me and I will explain it." Professor Alistair turned and walked out of the room, leaving Lovino and Antonio to follow him out. Lovino shot a look back at Felicia and shook his head at her. She stared at him with wide, sunshine-colored eyes, but didn't answer, and Lovino had no choice but to leave the room without getting her promise that she wouldn't follow him out.

Out in the corridor Lovino ran a bit to catch up to Antonio. The teacher was a ways ahead of them, walking at a brisk pace that had both of them scrambling to keep up. Antonio glanced nervously at Lovino, who didn't glance back. He was staring at Professor Alistair as if trying to burn a hole in the back of his head, which Antonio found adorable, even though something dramatic and plot-twist-worthy was about to happen. But, really, Antonio found Lovino adorable all the time, plot-twist-worthy moment or not.

...Which is why what Professor Alistair had to say would suck.

The professor in question led them both into his office, then nervously stood behind the chair that was behind his desk and looked anywhere but at Lovino and Antonio, even though the only things he had to look at were some terrible pictures of the sea. He motioned the two boys to sit down in two chairs that had magically (literally) appeared in front of his desk and, once they were both sitting with their hands clasped nervously in their laps, he looked down at them in an almost pitying way.

"Boys, I'm sorry to inform you that the Headmaster believes that you two spend too much time together... and cause too much commotion. So he has- he has decided that, um, you two aren't allowed to be within ten feet of each other unless you pass by in the halls or accidentally enter the same restroom."

There was blank silence for a moment, and then Antonio opened his mouth, eyes fiery with anger, but before he could say anything Lovino beat him to it.

"You've really thought this all out, haven't you?" Lovino asked mildly, which is never a good thing with Lovino. "Antonio and I can't be around each other anymore because whenever the Inquisitorial Squad shows their ugly faces Antonio actually acts like he cares about me, correct?"

Professor Alistair shifted guiltily, avoiding the Italian's steady gaze. "This wasn't my idea," he reminded them. "it was the Headmaster's, he says you two cause too much commotion-"

Lovino folded his arms over his chest and straightened his back, lifting his chin high in the air. "If Antonio and I aren't allowed to be around each other then I suggest that you _also_ forbid the Inquisitorial Squad and myself from having any contact, because otherwise I'm not listening to a word you say."

Antonio stared at Lovino, completely mesmerized by the absolute scorn that was emanating from what seemed to be every pore in the Italian's body. He didn't know that disdain could be so attractive. Maybe it was the smirk that seemed to be lingering around his crush's lips... **((A/N Like a hidden kiss!/shot))**

Professor Alistair stared at Lovino too, but not because he was mesmerized by his undeniable hotness, since this isn't _that_ kind of story. No, he was staring at him because he hadn't expected Lovino, who let the IS (we're shortening it down since it's so damn hard to spell Inquisitorial all the goddamn time) beat him up all the time, to try to make a deal with them. He couldn't help a slight smile from flickering across his face.

"Agreed," he said. "I'll tell the Headmaster what's going on." He got up and led them both to the door, then paused with one hand on the door handle. "Oh, and boys? Not all of us teachers feel the same way the Headmaster does." He gave them a significant look. "Now, be on your way." He flapped a hand at them, shooing them from the room, and then closed the door behind him and leaned on it, shutting his eyes tiredly. He didn't know how he was going to break the news to the Headmaster.

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

"Ve, but Lovino, I don't get it," Felicia said. She was currently lying on Lovino's bed in his new dormitory (they'd had to move him away from the IS, after all) with her stockinged legs kicking back and forth through the air. Her short skirt barely went down mid-thigh, and Lovino glared at her mostly bare legs as if they'd kicked his cat- who was currently sitting in his lap, being petted and pretending he didn't like it. He needed to convince Felicia to wear longer skirts; he didn't like the boys staring at her legs like he knew they did. She was just a little girl, and he didn't want anyone to hurt her.

"You don't get _what_, Feli?" Lovino asked with a tired sigh. He pulled his cat up to his chest and hugged it close. It purr-growled at him, but snuggled into him as well.

"I just don't get why they made you stay away from Antonio when he's the best thing that's ever happened to you!"

Lovino blushed and clutched his cat even closer to his chest, somehow stuttering even though he was only breathing. "H-h-he- w-we aren't- _weren't_ -like that, Felicia! God dammit, stop reading into this shit! Jesus fuck!"

Felicia smothered her gleeful giggles in her hands, which she pressed tightly against her mouth. It was not very inconspicuous, though, and it caused Lovino to glare even harder at her.

"_Fratello_, you're so funny~!"

"No, I'm not," Lovino grumbled, burying his face in the fur of his cat. He _wasn't_ funny and he _didn't_ like Antonio, and he _wasn't missing him already_, dammit. He wasn't. At all. And he _also_ wasn't thinking of sneaking into the Gryffindor common room and, u-um, making sure Antonio was okay, and certainly _not_ pulling an Edward Cullen and watching him sleep... heh heh... why would he ever do that? AND WHY WAS HE EVEN THINKING ABOUT TWILIGHT HE WASN'T EVEN IN THAT FANDOM!

He hated... everything. Why couldn't life just be like classes? They were so easy. Magic came naturally to Lovino, something the Inquisitorial Squad would deny wholeheartedly. Magic was just... so much easier than real life. You waved the wand the right way and you said the spell the right way. You used the proper amount of magical force necessary, and then you could do practically anything you set your mind on.

Except raise the dead, and make life easier.

Felicia yawned, then got off of Lovino's bed. "I'm tired, _fratello_. I'm going to bed now."

Lovino shrugged, lost in his thoughts. "Okay. Go ahead. Sweet night- I mean, dreams. Yeah. Dream sweetly. Or something."

Felicia giggled slightly, then floated out of the room. Lovino glanced around at all the empty beds in his dormitory, then sighed. Apparently everyone was too scared to be in there with him, probably because they suspected that the IS would try something, such as throw Lovino out the window and pretend it was suicide. You never knew with them.

He lied back on his four-poster bed and stared at the covering above him. It was one of the few that wasn't green and silver- the Slytherin colors. This one was blue-gray, speckled with glowing, flickering lights that looked like stars. Well, there was one perk to moving to this dorm, he supposed, besides the lack of IS.

He turned on his side and looked out the far window, which showed the underground lake. He watched water creatures, the giant squid, and mermaids swim past his window as his eyelids grew heavier... and heavier... and... heavier...

And then-

"Hey, Lovino!"

Lovino sat straight up on his bed, glancing around furiously for the owner of the voice. "Who's there?" he called. "Show yourself, or I swear I'll-"

"It's me, Antonio! Just a second, let me try to get this Combobulated Charm off... wait, is that even what it's called? I can't remember..." Suddenly, as if water had just run down his head, he appeared, grinning and happy, Lovino knew. Sure, he couldn't see his face, but what's in a face? A rose by any other face would smell as sweet! Although, let's be honest, the face was a great part of the appeal...

"What're you doing here?" Lovino asked suspiciously. He shivered, feeling suddenly cold, and wrapped his blankets around himself. They were threadbare and thin, apparently the best the other Slytherins had to offer.

Antonio frowned. "Man, those blankets _suck_. Wait just a sec: _Accio warm, thick blankets_!"

Lovino blushed bright red and hid most of his face under his ratty old blankets. "It's okay, you don't have to do that for me, I could do it myself-"

But Antonio waved it all away. "No no no, don't even try to tell me you're not cold, I saw you shiver with my own eyes! And there was another reason but I forgot it! Oh, and it's the least I can do!"

Lovino can't help but snigger at that. In true Antonio fashion, he'd forgotten basically everything except his end goal, which was... well... Lovino suspected that it was to make him happy... But he didn't want to think about that. It filled him with a strange feeling that he couldn't identify and which he didn't want to delve too deep into, lest he get stuck. Emotions were weird at Hogwarts, he knew. They... took control of you more easily, because emotions helped magic; good or bad, they made it more potent, stronger, but they _also_ made it more dangerous, more volatile. That's why Lovino tried not to feel too much, so that his spells would work better and he wouldn't lose complete control of everything. Countless people had warned him against losing control, and he had heeded them when normally he wouldn't have. It was mostly because of the worried look in their eyes. Some of them had even wanted to forbid him from learning magic, until they had realized that, if he had no control, it would be even worse.

Because, apparently, Lovino was very, _very_ powerful. No one knew why, or how, but he was. Felicia had somehow been unaffected by... whatever had happened to make him so powerful, and he had no knowledge or memory of anything that could have affected his magical potential. All he knew was that, when he had woken up on his ninth birthday, his bed had been floating in outer space.

Antonio sat down on the bed beside Lovino, wrapping a couple of thick, soft, woollen blankets around their shoulders. Lovino squirmed a bit, thought he couldn't quite tell if he was trying to distance himself from, or get closer to, Antonio. Finally, he settled down, eyelids drooping closed once again.

"You're not supposed to be here..." he said drowsily as his head began to fall to one side. He jerked it back up every time. Antonio thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

"Technically," said the Spaniard.

"Technically," Lovino agreed. His head once again slipped to the side. Antonio began sneakily wrapping his arm around the other boy's waist, moving slowly and stealthily so Lovino wouldn't get suspicious.

"But I've never cared for technicalities."

Lovino yawned, eyes completely closed now. "I haven't either, really, but sometimes... they're... necessary..." He finally, _finally_ gave up the battle, and let his head fall to rest on Antonio's shoulder. His breathing began deepening almost instantly, and Antonio knew that he had already fallen asleep. He grinned to himself, almost unable to handle the insane cuteness, before wrapping and arm around Lovino's waist and laying them both gently down on the bed. He curled around Lovino, making sure he was actually asleep before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. He felt guilty kissing and cuddling Lovino while he was asleep but, well... how was he to resist? Besides, from the sleepy, dreaming smile the fiery Italian had on his face, he knew that he liked it, subconsciously, at the very least.

Besides... Antonio would be gone by the time Lovino's estranged dorm-mates came up to the room. Despite what he had told Lovino, he knew the risks of being found together. The _full_ risks, not the fake risks that Professor Alistair had given them. Professor Longbottom had talked to him not long after they had met with Alistair, and he had told him that if they were found together, Lovino would most probably be expelled. Because of Antonio's parents' high status in the Spanish hierarchy, he wouldn't be expelled, but Lovino, a simple muggle-born, had nothing to forcing them to keep him here.

Nothing except Antonio's cooperation. He had, by now, resigned himself to the fact that he probably wouldn't get much alone time with Lovino, well, ever, but... he was willing to comply as long as it meant that a) Lovino could complete his education and b) the IS kept well away from him.

If either of those were compromised... well, the school would have a war on its hands.

* * *

**A/N *smirks* Oh dear lord, soon enough Antonio will have a long ponytail at the back of his head. And by that I mean that he is turning as badass and protective as Pirate!Spain... *O***

**Anyways, expect another update soon (I've decided to try to update this every other Monday or so, starting soonish, but probably not actually on Monday because I have a fencing tournament that lasts all day) and well, actually... o/o I might be starting another story... or two... or three, actually... YES I KNOW, I HAVEN'T EVEN FINISHED ALL OF MY UPDATES BUT I'M ALREADY THINKING OF MORE STORIES! *sobs* I'm sorry, I'm sorry, forgive me! *flails about* **

**So yeah, that's all, leave a review if ya want, ****_adios!_**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

**The Breaking Point**

* * *

_"The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary._

_Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness."_

_Joseph Conrad_

* * *

Classes sucked, somehow, without the promise of Antonio somehow bending time and space to his will so as to meet Lovino at the door as he walked out.

That was the biggest loss, Lovino thought: Feeling sick to his stomach from the effort of holding back his magic as he walked out of the room, then glancing up to see Antonio leaning against the far wall, craning his head over the crowds to catch a glimpse of Lovino as he walked from the room.

Now, as he walked out of the classroom, stuffing books in his bag and trying to ignore the trembles that raced through his body from the effort of withholding his magic, he glanced in front of him to the wall where Antonio would usually be stationed. He sighed, still managing to feel disappointed even though he had known that Antonio wasn't going to be there.

He turned and walked down the hall, peering around so as to avoid the IS, then ducked into a boy's bathroom. He locked himself inside a stall, sat down on the toilet, then closed his eyes. He breathed deeply, ignoring the smell of bathroom, and tried to calm himself. Sometime this week he would have to sneak outside and use his real power. He had learned from experience that, if held in too long, his power would sort of... explode. It wasn't pretty, and it hurt. A lot.

The bathroom door opened and he heard footsteps against the tiles in outside the stall. He opened his eyes, glancing around worriedly. He pulled his legs up and onto the toilet, then waited, holding his breath, for the person to leave. He wouldn't put it past the IS to attack him in the bathroom. It was one of their favorite pastimes, after all.

"_Lovino_?" a voice hissed. Lovino jumped in surprise, nearly falling off the toilet.

"Antonio?" he asked. He got down off the toilet and slowly unlocked the door, peering out to meet Antonio's brilliant green eyes. He caught his breath at the sight, and instantly the roiling in his stomach dissipated. Wow. Antonio... was gorgeous. He had known that before, but he had never really appreciated it as much as he did right now.

"Hi!" Antonio said brightly, grinning.

"What are you doing here?" Lovino hissed, glancing around, as if expecting there to be security cameras. "We're not supposed to be around each other, remember?"

Antonio's grin turned smug. "Yeah, I know, but they _did_ say that we were allowed to have accidental encounters in the bathroom, right? So if they somehow find out that we saw each other we'll just say that we met accidentally!"

Lovino snorted doubtfully, but he couldn't help the blush from crossing his face. Antonio was so, so stupid, and he love- he was very... fond of him.

"You're an idiot," he muttered, glancing away from the other boy. "I think that you're an idiot."

Antonio chuckled, then reached out and ruffled Lovino's hair, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like, "So cute~!"

"Shut up! I hate you!" Lovino said, blushing furiously now. He half-heartedly started to close the stall door, hoping that Antonio would try to keep it open so that he could blame everything on him, but Antonio just watched as Lovino closed the door, then slowly peeked out, eyes looking super white in the Italian's blushing face.

"Hi," Antonio said gently. "How are you doing?"

"F-fine."

"And that stupid IS isn't giving you any problems, right?"

Lovino shook his head wildly from side to side, then muttered, "No. They're stupid."

Antonio frowned. "I don't trust them."

Lovino shook his head again, then opened the stall door a bit more, face serious now. "I don't either. I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. Without magic, I suppose, since using magic I would be able to throw them a long way. But would it even be considered throwing if I did that...?" Lovino's eyes unfocused as he thought about it, probably mentally looking up the definition of throwing to see if it matched up with using magic, blah blah blah. Antonio grinned at the sight. Lovino was soooo cute. Didn't he know how adorable it was when he stared off into space to figure something out? Antonio supposed that he didn't, otherwise he wouldn't do it so often.

Lovino shook his head to clear it, the one random hair curl that stuck out of the side of his head waggling around wildly. Antonio felt the sudden urge to touch it, but resisted. Lovino liked his own personal space, sometimes.

"Anyway, I don't trust the IS at all, so I think I'll be keeping my eyes peeled from here on out. I'll probably stay around Feli and her stupid bastard friends too." He pouted. "Safety in numbers and all that... It's necessary, I guess... Ugh, stupid idiots..." He continued muttering under his breath in what sounded like Italian, and Antonio could resist leaning forward and pressing a light kiss to his cheek before turning tail and leaving the restroom.

It took Lovino a few moments of replaying the moment in his mind to fully realize what had just happened, but when he did he found himself, for once, not blushing but paling dramatically. He closed the stall door and sat on the floor, staring at the walls next to him which were, like any bathroom, covered in graffiti, although these ones were magical and couldn't be removed or painted over. He was currently staring at a bad picture of a penis and some words that he couldn't focus on at the moment, but really he was imagining a slight warmth on his cheek where Antonio had kissed him- actually _kissed_ him! He couldn't seem to get his lungs to work properly. What did the kiss mean? Did it mean that Antonio liked him or that he just kissed his close friends? Did that mean he considered Lovino a close friend? Was he insane? Was it a heat of the moment thing? Was he just incredibly horny? Had his lips been itching? Had he been checking for stubble? Why would he be checking for stubble?! That was stupid!

Lovino mentally slapped himself. Of _course_ Antonio hadn't been checking for stubble, that was the stupidest thing he had ever heard of! He had probably just kissed him because, who knows, maybe in Spain they all said goodbye to people they felt friendly with by kissing them on the cheek. It was stupid to think that Antonio felt any other way than that about him. It was common knowledge that Antonio had been with plenty of girls, and so he wasn't even gay, so why was Lovino even worrying about this? Besides, Francis was always kissing everybody, so probably he had just rubbed off on Antonio. Yeah, that was it. It was nothing more than that.

FUCK. Why did he feel so disappointed then?!

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

Antonio was having a bad day.

After he had accosted Lovino in the bathroom and admired his cuteness, he had then kissed him on the cheek._ Kissed him on the cheek_. Here he was, constantly telling himself that they were nothing more than friends, would never _be_ anything more, and he shouldn't even think about what he would do to Lovino if he could (although his subconscious mind wouldn't let him forget), and yet he had leaned in and kissed Lovino on the cheek.

He was so ashamed of himself... He had thought he had better self-control than that, but he had been wrong. He couldn't stop himself from thinking about what Lovino was going through right now. Was he feeling violated? Did he never want to see Antonio again? Was he going to complain to the school? He shouldn't do that, he would get expelled if he did!

Antonio groaned and rested his head on his desk. Dennis Creevey looked down at him, then asked him what exactly he thought that he was doing.

"Dying," Antonio muttered. "I'm just dying now."

"Lovesick?" Dennis asked, a question that would have embarrassed any other student but Antonio.

"No." Antonio answered poutily. "I'm not lovesick at all."

"That's what the lovesick ones say, you know," Dennis answered, but he left Antonio to his dying and inspected someone else's potion, which had gone seriously awry.

"Merlin, Toni, what's wrong with you?" Gilbert asked from his place beside the Spaniard. He and Francis were currently making a potion that Antonio was _supposed_ to be helping with. "You're acting like a freak, really you are."

"I can smell the subtle scent of_ l'amour_," Francis said with a grin. "Antonio, are you in love? Guy or girl? Or is it... Lovino, perhaps?" He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively before turning back to the potion with renewed gusto- meaning that he actually prodded it with his wand like the instructions said, instead of just making Gilbert do it.

_"L'amour?!"_ Gilbert said, whipping off his special potions goggles. "I mean, love? Why would Toni be feeling _love_ for _Lovino_ of all people? He's not even that awesome- ...Um, Antonio? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Antonio startled, then suddenly realized that he had been glaring murderously at Gilbert. "I'm sorry!" he immediately said. "I didn't mean to, it's just, you were being mean about Lovino!"

"I was being mean about Lovino? No I wasn't! I was just saying that he's not even _that_ awesome, I never said he wasn't a _little_ bit awesome-"

Antonio suddenly brightened up. "You think he's awesome? Really? I think he's awesome too! And cute! And adorable! And perfect! And I want to hug him forever!"

Gilbert stared at Antonio, aghast, and Francis just smirked. "_Mon dieu_, Antonio, you are more hopelessly in love then I would have thought!"

Antonio looked up at him, face confused. "What do you mean? I figured I had a crush on him, but I didn't think it was full-blown _love."_

"Ohonhon, Antonio, _ma cheri_, this is more than just plain and simple love, this is _l'amour,_ which is completely different."

Gilbert snorted disbelievingly. "This _l'amour_ isn't any different than regular old love, except that it's French!"

"Exactly," Francis said with a grin. "It's... _French._ French love is far different than other love. It may be short and sweet, but it's truer than _yours."_

Gilbert glares at him. "How is it truer than mine, exactly, Francy-pants?" he asks icily. Francis glares back at him.

"You know very well how, _Mister Beilschmidt_."

Antonio winced and scooted his chair farther away from the two of them. He hated it when they got like this. Usually they were the best of friends, but occasionally something happened that made them want to kill each other. Antonio didn't know what had happened this time, but it had been something truly terrible, considering how riled up they both were.

"I don't think I do, _Mister Bonnefoy_."

The bell rang for the end of class, and instantly Antonio was out of his seat with his packed school bag over his shoulder. He left the classroom first before anyone else, but he could still hear Francis and Gilbert snapping at each other. Not literally snapping at each other- they weren't, you know, biting each other -but they were sort of speaking icily and _far_ too politely to each other, which was just scary. Gilbert was absolutely never polite, and Francis? Well, he _could_ be polite, but it was usually a polite familiarity, as if he already knew you.

This whole thing was getting way out of hand.

As was usual for Antonio, he headed straight in the direction of Lovino's class, then slowed down as he once again remembered that he couldn't _see_ Lovino anymore. Ugh... stupid dumb Headmaster! He could try to go for another bathroom meeting, but in all honesty that had been pure luck.

Instead, he headed toward his next class, like any normal person would. He kept glancing around for Lovino in the hallway- so much so that he kept bumping into people -but didn't even catch a glimpse of his robes disappearing around the corner. Antonio would recognize those robes anywhere, as slightly worn as they were. Lovino must have gotten them second-hand somewhere.

The rest of his classes for the day passed in a haze of boredom. He had a test in Charms that he only made it through because he was good at Charms, and he also got a ton of homework from Transfiguration that he would probably never get through because he would be waaaay too busy trying to have accidental encounters with his... his... Lovi.

And so it was that, because he was so distracted, he found himself being kidnapped in the courtyard.

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

Antonio came back into consciousness feeling groggy and incredibly confused. For one thing, when he opened his eyes it was still pure black. For another thing, he couldn't move any of his limbs. At all. He was completely stuck in his current position, and it was kind of uncomfortable.

After a couple more moments- long enough for his senses to come back to him -he realized that he was completely bound, from head to foot. He didn't know what by- if it was magic or actual rope -but he knew that he was bound and also that his eyes were covered, although he hadn't been gagged, which was rather unfortunate for whoever had bound him because he could talk a _lot._

"Hello? Is anyone there?" he asked. His voice echoed off what he figured was walls, which made him think he was in a big empty room or a cave or maybe the inside of a giant tree. He had never been good at guessing things.

"Can you hear me? Do you know why I'm here? Did I do something wrong? Was it that chocolate I ate last night, I left crumbs everywhere again didn't I? Well, I'm sorry! It won't happen again! Okay, that was a lie, it probably _will_ happen again, but it won't happen in the near-ish future if you let me go!"

Silence.

"Hello?"

More silence.

"Hello? Are you there, Merlin? It's me, Antonio."

Still _more_ silence. This person was _not_ very good at conversation. Unless, of course, there wasn't actually anyone there.

"Is there anyone there?"

No answer. It seemed that he was right in thinking that there wasn't anyone there. Of course. He had been talking to a wall this whole time. Well, it wasn't like he had never seriously talked to walls before. And besides, it wasn't like there was someone here who had heard him- Wait! Was that breathing?

"IS SOMEONE THERE." he shouted as loudly as he could. "ARE YOU HEARING WHAT I'M SAYING WITH MY MOUTH."

"Dear Merlin," said a snide voice from somewhere to his far right. "Do you ever fucking _shut up_?"

"Not really,"

"How do people put up with you?"

"Well, I've been told that I'm a fair kisser."

"...And you're _proud_ of that?!"

"Um... Yeah, I guess."

"That's too bad. Well anyway, we've kidnapped you and we won't let you go until you hand over Lovino."

"Lovino? I don't have Lovino. It's not like I keep him in my pocket or something."

"Oh, don't worry, he's coming. He always comes when someone else is getting hurt."

"Getting hurt? Who's getting hurt?"

"Well... You will be, very shortly."

"...I will? That doesn't seem very nice."

"Oh, it won't be. For you, anyway."

* * *

AYE**LUV**YOU

* * *

Frost Animus bumped into Lovino in the hallway. It wouldn't have been significant except that it was _Frost Animus_. Frost Animus didn't just _bump_ into people. and he certainly didn't bump into _Lovino._ Frost was a graceful creature, full of poise and, um, stuff that makes people graceful and pretty and evil. If he bumped into someone, it was on purpose because he had a secret message to impart upon them.

As soon as Frost was out of Lovino's general vicinity, said Italian reached into the pocket of his robes. He pulled out a scrap of parchment that read, _Cave under the lake, now, or you'll be sorry._

"Shit," Lovino muttered under his breath. "Shit shit shit shit. Fucking Christ on a cross made out of... of... garlic bread!" He slipped the scrap of parchment back into his pocket and then raced from the school, dropping his bag onto the floor in his effort to leave. It was Felicia again, wasn't it? Fuck. And now they had gone so far as to _kidnap_ her? Didn't her friends notice? Fuck!

He raced outside, across the courtyard, and around to the far side of the lake. There was a cave only known amongst the Slytherins over there, and that's where he was headed. That's where they would have Felicia, and that's where they would offer him a choice, and that's where he would pick getting the shit beat out of him rather than seeing his sister get hurt, and that was where-

"You're here." It wasn't a question, and it also wasn't Frost Animus, and it also wasn't Felicia.

"Who's there?" asked Antonio, turning his head in Lovino's general direction.

"_Antonio?!_"

"Lovino?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Lovino asked, completely astonished.

"I don't know."

"It's not supposed to be you!"

"It's not?"

"No!"

The IS member clears his throat loudly. "Um, hello, I'm still here."

"Do I _look_ like I give a fuck?" Lovino asked, turning to glare furiously at the IS member.

"You look like you _will_ give a fuck _very_ soon."

"Why would I-"

"Because," the IS member interrupted. "we're giving you a choice: Watch Antonio here get the bloody hell beat out of him, or wake up tomorrow with Felicia in St. Mungo's. Your choice." The boy leaned back, smirking in satisfaction at the horrified look on Lovino's face.

"No." said Lovino.

_"Yes,"_ said the IS member.

_"No!"_

_"Yes!"_

"I won't let you do this! Pick on someone else, for fuck's sake!"

"As soon as someone else becomes as perfect for bullying as you are, then we'll leave you alone."

"I won't let you."

"You can't _stop_ us!"

"I can t-"

"Just have them take me," said Antonio. Lovino jumped. He had almost forgotten that Antonio was there, even though that was an incredibly stupid thing to do.

"Take you where?"

"Um... to the place where they do the beating up part."

"We do the beating up part _here,"_ the IS member interjected. "In front of Lovino. So that he'll be scarred for life and realize that we mean business and don't want him here. That's what Frost told me, anyway, and I figure he's right."

"Yeah, so then beat me up and leave Lovi alone!"

_"Lovi,"_ the IS member said, voice filled with amusement. "It's progressed far enough for nicknames then, has it?"

_"What's_ progressed?" Lovino asked crossly. "There's nothing _to_ progress. Now let Antonio go before I _make_ you!"

The IS member rolled his eyes. "Grab him."

And suddenly Lovino was being grabbed from behind and there was a gag being wrapped inside his mouth and he could hardly breathe and his arms were yanked behind his back and tied together and suddenly there were people surrounding Antonio, who was still blindfolded and couldn't see, and Lovino struggled as hard as he could against the people holding him back but he couldn't get them to let go and-

The first hit landed hard on Antonio's jaw. He didn't yell or anything, but Lovino could tell that it hurt. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from what was going on before him, though. It was like a spell had been cast that made him unable to look away as punch after punch landed all over Antonio's body. Lovino soon ceased to struggle, unable to do anything but watch and blink away his tears as Antonio suffered through punch after bloody punch.

"_Now you know_," a voice whispered in Lovino's ear. "_Don't try to fight us_."

* * *

**A/N ****_GOD_**** this chapter took fucking AGES. Fuck. I'm sorry, everyone, but I'm trying to update everything real quick before school starts, I guess. Also, reviews are appreciated, as are chapter titles, because chapter titles are not something I excel at. At all.**

**(Yay for finishing editing at four in the morning! *shoots herself*)**


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